Day: June 24, 2009

People in our church say things like, “Pastor Susan hates feelings.” No, I don’t hate feelings and I’ve never said I hate feelings but I do say things like, “don’t be ruled by your feelings”. There is a great problem in America today with feelings. We allow them to control us and we validate them way too often.

We “feel” therefore we act or react. Feelings sometimes lie. Feelings sometimes betray you and others. Be careful how you handle your feelings. Now, there are those, whose days are up and down like a bouncing ball.

Sarah flies strictly by her feelings, so she wakes up happy and singing but when she can’t match her shoes to her dress her day is ruined. Then, Starbucks makes the perfect Latte and her day is great! She gets to work and her buddy called in sick 😦 so she is bummed. After that, a client needs an answer by noon and she is stressed. Because the answer is taking longer than normal to come, she won’t have time for lunch, this makes her cranky and she snaps at everyone… and, and, and, and you get the picture. Sarah’s emotions are swayed by each and every one of her circumstances.

All of the things that happened in Sarah’s life before noon had her feelings up and down. The problem was she needed to get a grip on herself. Her feelings were changing minute by minute and if she had taken a moment to breath, she could have handled her day more effectively.

You simply can’t let your feelings rule your life. Instead, use them as checks and balances and then compose and get yourself together and determine action if needed. Feelings are important as checks in our lives but to be constantly ruled by them is to live an erratic life. I truly believe that if we learn to control how we react to our feelings we will restore the well being in our lives. If you control your feelings and not allow your feelings to control you, your self-esteem will rise as you get a grip on your life and take charge.